The Kitchen of Belis

I have decided to protest against any dish that takes more than 30 minutes to put together. (I am not including the cooking time here, just the preparation part). When it comes to "my" labor time, I feel like a long preparation equals waste. Of course, I am leaving some room to exception for special dishes, but for the most part I'd say think twice before you attempt to take on any time intensive recipe. Think about a complicated lasagna which could include activities such as roasting, simmering, baking and boiling all taking place simultaneously. Dios mio! What an effort! So to counter this I'd like to introduce a nice simple comfort food recipe: Sautéd Beef (Buffalo) with Petite Mixed Vegetables.
Before I dive into the details I'd like to talk a little about buffalo meat. I have become a huge fan of buffalo meat. Compared to beef, this meat is very lean and tender. It's not only a heart-healthy meat, but also very tasty. Though I made this dish with buffalo meat (from Whole Foods) you can also substitute with beef (maybe something like rib eye). If you are still on the fence about Buffalo Meat I highly recommend a visit to the BullsHead Restaurant (West Portal, San Francisco) for their assortment of delicious buffalo burgers.

With this being said, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 slices of buffalo or rib eye steak
2 cups of petite mixed vegetables of your choice
1 cup shitake mushrooms - cut in fours
8-10 pieces of yellow pearl onions
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 table spoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
water

Cut the steak into long strips. Pour olive oil into a medium size pot, add steak strips and onions and saute. Add tomato paste along with mushrooms and other vegetables. Add some water - it should not be more than the mixture in the pot. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.

Asparagus season is almost here! It starts around mid-April and last about only two months - definitely not enough time for me to get enough of this vegetable. It comes to our household all year around.

Recently I was reading that in Germany, every eatery from the tiniest to the most elaborate offered a special asparagus menu that would list as many as 45 variations of this vegetable. Assuming this is true, I started to wonder why all I do to this vegetable is to steam it...

Thinking lemon (somehow) would be a good match to this vegetable, I made lemony-asparagusy rice for the first time.

Here is the recipe that I found from the San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook -

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 large shallots, minced
1 1/2 cups (brown) basmati rice
1/4 cups lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 pound thin asparagus
Finely minced zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

Heat the broth.
Heat the olive oil in another pot. Add shallots and saute them for couple minutes. Add rice and stir until all the grains are coated with oil. Add boiling broth, lemon juice, salt and some pepper. Stir to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes.
Get rid of the tough ends of asparagus. Then cut it into little pieces. Add asparagus along with lemon zest into rice and simmer until it's cooked.
Rest it covered before serving with a piece of paper towel between the lid and the pot.

Are you feeling off and in need of something light and warm? Are you tired of eating canned soups and starting to get concerned about your preservatives intake? Do you have limited time like just 10 minutes to put something together? Do you wish your dish to be homemade and healthy? Then I think you will really like this pea soup.

If you do not like peas, their overall nutritional characteristics may change your mind. Peas are very healthy as they are a good source of protein, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin C and amino acids. They are also low in oil, and the type of starch they contain is the sort that breaks down slowly rather than giving a quick burst of energy.

Here is how you make it...

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 chopped leeks, white and light green parts
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cups vegetable stock
5 cups freshly shelled peas
2/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly chopped chives

Directions

Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. (Frozen peas will take only 3 minutes.) Off the heat, add the mint, salt, and pepper.

*Puree the soup in batches: place 1 cup of soup in a blender, place the lid on top, and puree on low speed. Pour the soup into a large bowl and repeat until all the soup is pureed. Whisk in chives and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with garlic croutons.

(Recipe By Ina Garten)

I know, I know, I know... In these time-conscious days, it can often be better to buy a dessert than to make your own. You can buy many delicious desserts for quite reasonable prices. Also, coming into contact with a dessert in the form of a "finished product" makes it easier to justify the caloric intake - your brain can't begin to process the magnitude of the possible damage based on the ingredients.

So with this being said, if you have some time on your hands, it can be a lot of fun to bake your own dessert. The bonus of making your own dessert is that you are aware of what you are putting into your body and you can make adjustments to ingredients based on these concerns. This was my line of reasoning, when I made my own dessert from the "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" cookbook. How can one go wrong with a recipe when the subtitle of the book says "Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)".

OK without further dalliance, here is the Fresh Fruit Crisp recipe -



Serves 6

1/2 cup of coconut oil, plus a bit more in the pan
1 cup plus 2 table spoons Sucanat (sugar substitute)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 cups of pitted fresh fruit of your choice/s
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
A friend who knows how to bake stuff
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven 375 (oil 8 * 8 Baking pan)

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of succanat, 1/2 cup of the flour, the oats, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add coconut oil and mix until pieces are pea size.

In another bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of succanat, 1 table spoon of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the cinnamon. Mix in the fruit, lemon juice and vanilla.

Transfer fruit to the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Sprinkle on the topping. Bake for 30 minutes to an hour.

You can cover the top lightly with foil and open the foil.

OK - here is the tip that is not in the book... If you are not sure whether or not it is thoroughly cooked, stick a knife inside and see if the knife comes out warm. If it is not warm, then it means it is ready. This little tip comes to us from my friend Scott.

Next, take out and cool it down for 10-15 minutes. Serve it with some vanilla ice-cream.